Handy way to quickly look up references from a print book

[Joel Arnold]

So of course we all find ourselves reading books that either we don't own or don't exist in electronic format. And because you're used to quickly viewing references in Accordance it can be frustrating. Who wants to sit and type in 10 references just to quickly see what they are?

 

https://itunes.apple.com/app/id438475005?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

 

I've regularly used this quick and easy OCR app (normally $3; free today). And if you want to get REALLY fancy, you can attach this folder action to your downloads folder. Select the references within the iOS app and airdrop it to your computer (select and chose "share..."—it'll automatically open up to those verses in Accordance.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ohx4f2hyok5v7sh/AAAa7LmLgUYsKtxdaEKLoC7Fa?dl=0

 

 

When you have a long string of references... makes my life a lot easier.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Arnold

[Emanuel Cardona]

App downloaded. Thank you!

[Joel Arnold]

Sorry everyone. Price just went up on the app. But you can sign up here for a free account that will notify you when it goes back down again.

 

http://appsliced.co/app?n=textgrabber&l=emailtop

[mortenjensen]

Hi Arnold,

 

Thanks for sharing your workflow!

Would it be possible for you to pin it out a bit more. I understand that you can scan and OCR text on your iPhone - then transfer those text bits to your mac using airdrop. What exactly does the action you have made do then? How does it look up verses in Accordance from OCR-scans? Perhaps you could share some examples of how you use it?

 

Thanks

Morten

[Joel Arnold]

Sure. Here's an explanation of folder actions. Maybe that'll help. The trigger for the script should just be whenever a file goes into the folder.

http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/01/30/folder-actions-for-os-x-explained-with-real-world-examples/

 

So really what you said is everything I do. So say I'm reading a page in a book and hit a string of Scripture references. I don't want to type in "John 3:9; Acts 4:13; Rev. 6:12" because I'm lazy and life is short. So I'll snap a picture and tell the app to "read it." (Personally I usually crop down to the references though you don't have to be precise. Just makes it easier.)

 

Next thing you'll see on your iPhone is a bunch of text (OCR results). If it made a mistake or there's a "cf" I might edit it right there but that's rare. It's very accurate. So I select the text of the references (make sure you only select the references) and hit share, then airdrop to my computer.

 

The script takes over from there. If you set it up correctly with this folder action enabled on your downloads folder (or whatever folder your airdropped files go to), that's it. You're done. Accordance should now be open to those references.

 

Eventually I'd like to make the script automatically take out things like "c.f." or even "(, )" so that it's even easier to send over. But I would have to teach myself more about AppleScript first.

 

Is that clear enough? I can elaborate further if you want.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Arnold

[mortenjensen]

Thanks, yes, it makes sense. You probably need more than one reference to save time with this workflow in comparison with just typing in the reference, not? 

In any case, thanks for explaining. I have never used actions but now some who really benefit from it in many situations.

Morten

[Joel Arnold]

I think so. It wouldn't make a ton of sense to do that with only one reference.